Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It: Life Journeys Inspired by the Bestselling Memoir

by Various, Elizabeth Gilbert (Introduction)

Overview

A New York Times Bestseller — True stories inspired by one of the most iconic, beloved, bestselling books of our time, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
 
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love has become a worldwide phenomenon, empowering millions of readers to set out on paths they never thought possible, in search of their own best selves. Here, in this candid and captivating collection, nearly fifty of those readers—people as diverse in their experiences as they are in age and background—share their stories. The journeys they recount are transformative—sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always deeply inspiring.

Eat Pray Love helped one writer to embrace motherhood, another to come to terms with the loss of her mother, and yet another to find peace with not wanting to become a mother at all. One writer, reeling from a difficult divorce, finds new love overseas; another, a lifelong caregiver, is inspired to take an annual road trip, solo. A man leaves seminary, embraces his sexual identity, and forges a new relationship with God. A woman goes to divinity school and grapples with doubt and belief. One writer’s search for the perfect pizza leads her to New Zealand and off-the-grid homesteading, while another, in overcoming an eating disorder, redefines her relationship not only with food but with herself. Some writers face down devastating illness and crippling fears, and others step out of their old lives to fulfill long-held dreams of singing, acting, writing, teaching, and learning.

Entertaining and enlightening, Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It is a celebration for fans old and new. What will Eat Pray Love make you do?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399576775
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/29/2016
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	539,998
Product dimensions:	5.46(w) x 8.43(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic, Eat Pray Love, and The Signature of All Things, as well as several other internationally bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her latest novel, City of Girls, comes out in June, 2019.

Table of Contents

Introduction Elizabeth Gilbert ix

Take a Breath Rebecca Asher 1

Garden State Victoria Russell 3

The Gift Mallory Kotzman 8

Happy Wife, Happy Life Lisa Becker 12

Intelligence Peter Richmond 17

"Pray" is the Hard Part April Schmidt 21

Reaching My Boiling Point Tina Donvito 25

Shift Happens Emily Shaules 30

Making Peace with Myself Eduardo Martinez 34

Imperfectly Enlightened Shannon Sykes Westgate 37

There You Are Jan Haag 42

Adventurous Woman Laurna Strikwerda 47

Tell The Truth, Tell The Truth, Tell The Truth Eran Sudds 52

Penny Prayers Aimee Halfpenny 58

Road Map Alexandria Hodge 63

Curing the Incurable Any B. Scher 65

Failure to Freedom Linsi Broom 70

Steps Melissa Bergstrom 74

A Bonk on the Head Kahla Kiker 79

Someone Like Me Sandra Roussy 83

Pepperoni Epiphanies James Belmont 87

The List Annmane Kostyk 91

Living Well Nosipho Koto 95

Bread and Cheese Nicole Massaro 95

Out of the Ashes Regan Spencer 101

Write It Down Chelsey Everest 106

Me Time Theressa Real 111

Divine Timing Crystal Gasser 115

Playing the Part Lisann Valentin 119

Fall Risk Karstee Davis 126

Good Enough Laurie Granieri 132

Cry Teach Grow Leslie Patrick Moore 136

Crossing Over Sondra Imperati 141

Running On My Own Elizabeth Duffy 147

"Read Me Your Story, Mandy" Amanda Whitten 152

Answering The Call Of The Higher Self? Billy Rosa 155

Second-Act Singer Theresa Thornton 159

My Superstorms Cara Bradshaw 163

Tour De Fifty Robin Murphy 168

Recognizing Myself Kitty Taylor 172

Out of the Dark Danielle Rhinehart 178

Un Pedazo De Pan Dulce, A Piece of Sweet Bread Elizabeth Veras Holland 183

Darkening Gray Susan Krakoff 188

Getting Back To Me Trade Cornell 191

It Started With The Flu Lettie Stratton 194

Seek Heal Grow Jen Flick 198

Coming Home Peggy Bresnick 203

About the Contributors 207

Credits 219

Editorial Reviews

02/15/2016
With an introduction by Elizabeth Gilbert, this collection of 47 short essays on how her bestselling book changed the writers’ lives will be of interest to the author’s fans as well as to others wondering what the Eat Pray Love hubbub was (and still is) all about. The selections are varied, though a few themes run throughout. Like Gilbert, a number of writers left unhappy marriages, found the courage to travel to far-flung locales, or came to epiphanies on their bathroom floor. Others faced serious health problems, or abandoned unrewarding careers. Some contributors are parents; others are childless—some, like Gilbert, by choice. The stories shared are often fascinating, though readers may tire of the countless (and perhaps unnecessary) expressions of gratitude to Gilbert. Nevertheless, the collection clearly reveals the myriad ways in which her groundbreaking memoir has affected its readers. No doubt, like Eat Pray Love itself, this follow-up will inspire people, as Gilbert writes here, to step out of “their tired old selves” and follow their dreams. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It: 

"A love letter to Gilbert and to the power of change." —O, the Oprah Magazine, "Books to Read this May"

 "Compelling...it's amazing to see how universal our issues are as well as how unique the situations and results." — Chicago Tribune

"A new treat for Gilbert's many fans." —Kirkus Reviews

"Fascinating...clearly reveals the myriad ways in which [Gilbert's] groundbreaking memoir has affected its readers...No doubt, like Eat Pray Love itself, this follow-up will inspire." —Publishers Weekly

"Readers will relish this work." —Library Journal

From the Publisher

03/01/2016
Since its 2006 publication, Elizabeth Gilbert's astoundingly successful Eat Pray Love, which traces the author's psychic (and globe-trotting) journey from emotional misery to self-determination and personal satisfaction, has served as a guide for the discontented who are ready to realize that "My life doesn't have to look like this anymore." Oprah, Hollywood, and countless yoga studios took notice and a phenomenon was born. Now, ten years after Gilbert's cultural juggernaut took off, this collection serves up the tales of almost 50 lives changed—for the better—by the inspiration provided in her original work. Writers from various backgrounds each share an "aha" moment prompted by Gilbert's experience and relate accounts of abuse, addiction, grief, and spiritual unmooring, along with episodes of ennui and bad career choices. Their applied transformative methods range from yoga and travel to divorce, coloring books, and rehabilitation. The common factor? Encouragement supplied by Gilbert's story of renewal. VERDICT More than one contributor mentions being given a copy of Eat Pray Love by a concerned mother or friend; such readers will relish this work. It will also appeal to those whose lives were similarly changed, or those who hope to be so.—Therese Purcell Nielsen, Huntington P.L., NY

Library Journal

2016-02-04
Grateful readers tell why Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir became such a phenomenal success. After Eat Pray Love was published in 2006, the author was overwhelmed by readers who told her that the book had changed their lives—but she didn't know quite how. "It was only seeing the incredible range of submissions that came pouring in for this anthology that I finally got it," she writes in the introduction. Most of the contributors repeated the same story: the book made them realize, "my life doesn't have to look like this anymore." That is the theme of the nearly 50 short essays—most by women—in a collection that is both inspiring and, for Gilbert, self-congratulatory. Many entries end by thanking "Liz," as the writers often call her, for waking them up and convincing them that they "are allowed to change" and "to assert agency over the direction you go next." Many writers were depressed, and all were feeling stuck and unsatisfied with their lives. Some were sick with HIV, cancer, anorexia, and other illnesses. Some were mired in bad marriages, many were bored, and others were fearful. "I learned to forgive myself for being scared and imperfect, for making mistakes," one woman writes. "I stopped allowing myself to use those mistakes as an excuse to not try new things." Self-affirmation is a recurrent theme: "Liz showed me that we cannot heal without loving our whole selves," wrote a woman who had suffered debilitating back pain that made her feel "trapped" in her body. "Eat Pray Love gave me the chutzpah to jump into the ultimate unknowing," said a woman suffering from late-stage Lyme disease, referring to her decision to enroll in an experimental stem cell treatment program in India. For some, the ultimate unknowing meant ending a marriage, setting out on travel, or, for one woman, signing up for six weeks of burlesque classes. A new treat for Gilbert's many fans.

Kirkus Reviews

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